Foreclosures

April 27, 2017

Congratulations! You found the North Shore home of your dreams, made an offer and are awaiting a, hopefully, successful home inspection and appraisal. Purchasing a home is the largest investment you will make. You want to make sure it’s the best investment possible. We’ve put together some tips to help you to avoid owning a money pit.

GET a home inspection. Your purchase contract gives you the opportunity to have an inspection within 5 business days after the contract is signed by all parties. Don’t skip this very important opportunity! If your mortgage doesn’t require a home inspection, get one anyway. Getting a home inspection not only prevents you from purchasing something with a serious or expensive hidden issue but it can help you plan for future repairs so you are not caught unaware. In addition, if there is a serious health or safety issue, you can now go back and renegotiate the price based on inspection findings and/or ask the homeowner to make the repairs prior to the closing.

HIRE the right inspector. Be sure your inspector is a qualified, neutral party. Your Uncle John or the current homeowner’s best friend are not good choices. Your Realtor probably has a list of inspectors that have done a great job in the past for them or their office. We suggest you look for someone that is part of the American Society of Home Inspectors. Also, be sure that the inspector you hire is going to provide you with a catalog of problems he finds. Most will give you a binder, book or digital file listing any potential problems they find along with photographic evidence of this. That information/proof is what you will need if you need to bring any significant inspection issues to the current homeowner’s attention.

ATTEND the inspection. Even if you have to take a day off work, attending the inspection is a must. And, if you are not a great handyman, take your dad or someone else along who is somewhat knowledgeable. Ask your inspector questions along the way so that you can learn as much as possible about the place you are hoping to spend the next 20 years.

FOLLOW UP on the inspection. Don’t just get the information and sit on it. Go through it with your Realtor, spouse, the handy person you took along, and decide what to ask for when it comes to repairs prior to the closing or money off. If something needs further investigation, you can bring in experts, such as plumbers, electricians or roofers, to provide additional information, insight, and cost estimates. While most inspectors are good at what they do, they are not experts in everything – some potential issues uncovered by an inspector are easily remedied, while others can be very costly. Before moving forward with your transaction, you need to know what you are getting into.

REST EASY knowing you are getting what you want and expect in your home purchase. By taking the time and a little bit of money to do a home inspection, you are saving yourself potential headaches and financial issues down the road.

Do you have any other home inspection tips? Let us know! If you have any further questions on inspections or real estate, feel free to contact me.

January 01, 2014

My family decided to skip going to a movie today, and it is still snowing outside (no point in shovelling yet) so I decided to get started analyzing the 2013 housing numbers for the North Shore.

On average, the number of homes sold in 2013 rose by 20% over 2012 on the North Shore (Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Lake Forest, Northbrook. Northfield, Skokie, Wilmette and Winnetka). Over 82% of these were “traditional” sales (not distressed properties), which is an improvement over 2012, where 75.5% were distressed properties. Median prices rose in every community, except for Kenilworth and Northbrook (I will be taking a look at average prices to see if there is an anomaly here).

Heading into 2014 additional good news is that the number of distressed properties (pre-foreclosure and bank owned) has declined in all communities, with about 1% of totally housing units in pre-foreclosure or already bank owned. Skokie continues to have the highest number of these distressed properties (392) and the highest percent of its total housing units (1.6%). Distressed properties in both Northbrook and Northfield is 1.2% of total housing units. All other communities are at or below 1%.

I am attaching charts that summarize sales and median prices for each community, 2013 versus 2012, single family homes and condos/townhomes. click here for charts

This is just my first look at the data...I'll be reviewing it more in depth over the next few days and provide additional insights and commentary.

Thank you for reading!!

If you’d like to understand how this information affects you and your home buying/selling decisions, contact me directly for a consultation.

January 04, 2013

Home sales on Chicago’s North Shore increased in 2012 by 17.6% over 2011. Chart on the right shows the breakdown for each community (click on the chart to see larger image).

Northfield had the largest percentage increase of 81%! This was followed by Wilmette with an increase of 27%, and then Skokie and Evanston, both with increases over 20%. Highland Park and Northbrook also performed above average with over 18% increases in sales.

Sales of condos and townhomes increased by over 32% on the North Shore. The net increase in sales for all residential properties on the North Shore was 22.4%.

Over 75% of the sales were traditional sales, NOT short sales or foreclosures. All good news for the housing market!

More to come...stay tuned.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to understand how this information affects you and your home buying/selling decisions, contact me directly for a consultation.

August 21, 2012

This is my 4th post in a series about real estate trends on Chicago's North Shore. Please see my last few posts for a summary of trends in:

Illinois

Chicago

The whole North Shore

Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, and Highland Park

I have been so busy selling homes that posting this analysis is a little late - sorry about that. The bottom line is that the real estate market has been incredibly busy, inventory levels are down, and we are headed towards a recovery.

Kenilworth

Kenilworth is a very small (and expensive) area of less than 900 homes. All of the statistics for Kenilworth are based on a much smaller number of homes than the other communities, so I will notmake direct comparisons. Sales have been fairly consistent in Kenilworth over the past 2 years. While this analysis does not focus on sales performance by price range (I do this type of analysis when discussing pricing with home sellers), it is safe to say that performance of this market suggeststhat recovery of luxury home sales is lagging behind less expensive properties.

The number of single family homes sold in Kenilworth decreased to 32 sales in thepast 12 months from 35 homes in the prior 12 months. Additionally there were 2 condos/townhomes old in the past 12 months, up from zero.

One of the Kenilworth sales was a short sale and one was a foreclosure.

At the end of June there was over 11 months of inventory for single family homesin Kenilworth. This is only slightly lower than it was in December 2011 (12.4 months)

There is one home in pre-foreclosure in Kenilworth and one that is bank-owned. This represents 0.2% of the total housing units (TNU) in Kenilworth. There were 7distressed properties in Kenilworth in January.

The median price decreased from $1.595 million to $1.305 million (-22.2%)

Lake Forest

Although the number of distressed properties in Lake Forest is relatively low, the inventory levels continue to be high, and prices appear to be flat or declining. As I said in my January report, I believe that the turnaround for Lake Forest is slightly behind Highland Park. I expect sales of singlefamily homes to stabilize or increase in Lake Forest through the end of the year.

Lake Forest sales increased by 11% during the 12 months ending in June 2012 compared to the prior 12 months. Single family home sales increased by 15% (similar to North Shore as a whole) while condo/townhome sales dropped by 3.8% (well below the rest of the North Shore).

Over 87.5% of the sales in 2011 were traditional sales (not foreclosures of short sales).

Inventory levels for Lake Forest in June were the highest on the North Shore with over 14months of inventory for single family homes and over 16 months for condos/townhomes. This is an improvement from the end of 2011 where single family home inventory was over 16 months, and 18 months for condo/townhomes.

Tax records show that there were 50 homes in pre-foreclosure and 17 bank-ownedproperties in Lake Forest at the end of June. This represents about 0.9% of total housing units (THU) in Lake Forest. This is a slight increase in distressed properties from January when there were 63 distressed properties.

The median price of a single family home decreased in Lake Forest by 1.4%%, while he condo/townhome median price dropped by more than 46%.

Northbrook

The overall sales increases in Northbrook have been very strong. However, we will not see pricing improvements until the more of the distressed properties are cleared out of the market and inventory levels decline more. Condo/townhome prices will take longer to stabilize than single family home prices.

The number of homes sold in Northbrook increased by 23.2% for the 12 months ending June 2012, compared to the prior 12 months. Similar to Deerfield and Highland Park, most of the increases in Northbrook were in the townhome/condo market where sales increased by over 40%. Single family home sales increased by 14.4% in the same time period. This continues the trend that we saw in at the end of 2011 with townhome/condo sales showing stronger increases than single family homes in Northbrook. The overall increase to 23.2% at the end of June is higher than the North Shore combined increase of 18.8%.

The percent of home sales that were distressed properties is about the same as it was at the end of the year, almost 23% for the 12 months ending in June. The mix of distressed properties shifted slightly with a slight increase in the percent that were bank owned (13.5% oftotal sales) versus short sales (9.3%).

Inventory for single family homes declined slightly compared to December 2011 from 9 months to 7.9 months. Condo/townhome inventory also declined from over 11 months to 8.8 months. This is headed in the right direction, but still a buyer’s market.

As of the end of June, Northbrook had 124 homes in pre-foreclosure and 72 bank-owned properties. This is represents a slight decrease in distressed properties from January. With distressed properties representing 1.6% of the total housing units (THU) in Northbrook this is similar to the North Shore as a whole, which had distressed properties at 1.4% of THU.

The median price for a single family home fell by 3.3% in Northbrook, while condos/townhomes saw a decline of 16.8%.

Next up: Skokie, Wilmette and Winnetka. If you are interested in a spreadsheet with all the numbers, please contact me and I will share. The spreadsheet also includes Northfield.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to understand how this information affects you and your home buying/selling decisions, contact me directly for a consultation.

July 30, 2012

The first half of 2012 looks very good for the North Shore overall. The median price of a home increased each month starting in February, as did the number of properties sold. Monthly inventory levels for December throughJune have been lower than any time during the preceding 2 years. These are all positive signs for the housing market.

Total North Shore home sales increased by 19%during the 12 months ending in June 30 compared to the prior 12 months (better than Chicago, slightly worse than Illinois). Sales of single family homes on the North Shore increased by 15.5%, while condo/townhome sales increased by almost 27%. This is a dramatic shift from my report in January where calendar year over year comparisons showed a very slight increase in sales (1.3%). These increases were clearly based on sales in the first half of the year. Incredibly low interest rates and pent up demand appear to be driving these sales.

Almost 24% of the sales on the North Shore were distressed properties. Less than 10% of the sales on the North Shore were short sales; almost 15% were bank-owned (foreclosed) properties. Thesepercentages are slightly higher than what I saw in January. When you take into account the higher overall sales numbers it becomes clear that more distressed properties have been sellingover the past 6 months than in prior months.

Deerfield

Deerfield continues to be one of the strongest markets on the North Shore with a 36.2% increase in the number of homes sold in the 12 months ending in June versus the prior year. (Highland Park follows with a 31.6% increase in sales.) This increase was driven to a large degree by an increase in condo/townhome sales over the prior year of more than 85%. Single family home sales increased by over 18%.

Over 20% of Deerfield home sales during the recent 12 months were distressed properties (Over 13% were bank-owned and more than 7% were short sales).

The inventory levels in June were 7.8 months for single family homes and 9 months forcondos/townhomes (5-8 months is considered a balanced or “normal” market).

According to public records there are 75 homes in pre-foreclosure in Deerfield and 27 bank-owned properties. These represent about 1.5% of the total housing units (THU) in Deerfield, which is the second highest percentage among the communities I analyzed on the North Shore. This is exactly the same as it was in January. (Skokie continues to have the most distressedproperties as a percent of THU right now on the North Shore.)

The median sale price for single family homes increased by 4.2% (better than Chicago). Median prices for condos fell by 12.2% (same as Illinois, worse than Chicago).

Overall I think that Deerfield continues to head in a positive direction. For single family homes the market has stabilized in terms of price and inventory. Condos and townhomes in Deerfield are still trending downward and will witness some additional price declines during the next 6 months.

Evanston

The number of homes sold in Evanston increased by 13.5% in the past 12 months compared to the prior 12 months. The increase was slightly higher for single family homes (+13.9%) than for condos and townhomes (+13.2%). This is a nice turnaround versus 6 months ago when year-over year sales were down by 9.7%. Evanston’s turnaround is lagging behind the state and the rest of the North Shore communities, but is on par with the city of Chicago.

Less than 23% of the sales in Evanston were distressed properties during the past 12 months.

Inventory for single family homes in Evanston is down to 6.3 months – this is the second lowest level on the North Shore, following Wilmette. Condo/townhomes inventory is 11.6 months. Evanston inventory numbers are lower (better) than 6 months ago; however the condo/townhome inventory is higher than Illinois and Chicago.

The number of bank-owned homes and homes in pre-foreclosure in Evanston increased slightlysince last January. There are now 370 distressed properties according to public records, up from 340 in January. These distressed properties represent 1.1% of total housing units (THU) in Evanston. For the North Shore as a whole, this number is about 1.4%, so this is a positive sign for Evanston.

The median price for a single family home in Evanston dropped by 3.5% during the past 12 months, slightly better than Illinois and the city of Chicago. However the median for condos and townhomes dropped by over 29% in Evanston during the same time period. This is a larger decline for condos and townhomes than we saw at the end of 2011 (it was -14.9%).

The city of Evanston continues to exhibit two very different markets. Sales, inventory and prices for single family homes are showing improvement, while condos and townhomes prices continue todecline. Bottom line is that demand for condos and townhomes is still lagging in Evanston. For the rest of 2012 the number of home sales should continue to be strong in Evanston. Prices for single family homes appear to have stabilized, but prices will continue to decline in the condo/townhome market until it matches demand.

The relatively low number of distressed properties as a percent of total housing units continues to buoy the Evanston market.

Stay tuned for updates on the rest of the North Shore communities.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to understand how this information affects you and your home buying/selling decisions, contact me directly for a consultation.

July 29, 2012

Sales data from the first half of 2012 are in, and things appear to be moving in the rightdirection on the North Shore! The past 6 months have seen strong sales numbers and prices have stabilized; in some areas we are seeing modest price increases. The big question is whether or not this is just a seasonal trend or if the worst of the market is really behind us.

I just finished my analysis. I will be posting my report in several installments over the next few days.

In this first post you will find an overview of what is going on in the state of Illinois and the general Chicago area. Then in subsequent posts I will use this information for comparison with each of these North Shore communities: Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe, Highland Park, Kenilworth, Lake Forest, Northbrook, Northfield, Skokie, Wilmette, and Winnetka.

IllinoisMONTHLY TRENDS: According to the Illinois Association ofRealtors, June was the 4th month in a row with an increase in the median price of a home (both single family and attached housing). The median price rose by 3.3% compared to June a year ago. The number of homes sold in Illinois increased by 18% in June versus one year ago. On a month-to-month basis the first half of 2012 is clearly trending upward and appears stronger versus 2010 and 2011.

For the 12 months ending June 30, 2012, median home prices declined by 8% in the state of Illinois. The decline was larger for condos and townhomes, with a median price decline of 12.2%. For single family homes the decline was 5.1%.

Overall home sales in Illinois increased by 21.4% during the 12 months ending in June, versus the prior 12 months. Condo/townhome sales led the way with an increase of 24.6% while singlefamily home sales increased by 19.8%.

As of June 30th 2012, inventory levels in Illinois were still higher than a “normal” or balanced market of 5-8 months, with 10.3 months of inventory. (This is calculated by dividing the number of homes for sale by the average number of homes sold each month.) This was slightly higher for condos/townhomes at 11 months, and 10 months for single family properties.

Crain’s Chicago Business reported on July 13th that 28% of homes in Illinois with a mortgage are underwater (amount owed on mortgage is greater than current value of the home).

Chicago PMSA

(The Chicago PMSA, as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, includes the counties of Cook, DeKalb, DuPage, Grundy, Kane, Kendall, Lake, McHenry and Will) Performance of this area was almost identical to the entire state of Illinois, so I am not going to cover the detailed statistics. Overall the first half of the year saw increasing median prices each month and declining inventory levels. Both of these are positive indicators for the housing market.

The City of Chicago

Similar to the entire state, June was the 5th month in a row with an increase in the median price and the number of homes sold. Inventory levels also declined each month during the same time period.

Unlike the rest the state, the median price was the same for the 12 months ending June 30, 2012 as the prior 12-month period. For single family homes, the median price increased by 3.9% over the prior 12 months! Condo/townhome median price fell by 3.9% (it was -5% in Illinois).

Inventory levels for Chicago in June were lower than the state, with 9.2 months of inventory overall; 8.7 months for single family homes and 9.5 for condos/townhomes.

The number of homes sold increased in Chicago by 13.6% - this is alower percent increase than the state of Illinois. Similar to the state, the increase in salesof condos/townhomes (17.2%) was higher than the increase in sales of single family homes (8.7%) over the prior 12 months.

Watch for my market by market reports over the next few days!!

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to understand how this information affects you and your home buying/selling decisions, contact me directly for a consultation.

February 16, 2012

This is my 8th and final post in the series orbout real estate housing trends on Chicago's North Shore (until I repeat this exercise in 6 months!). I did leave out some communities that are also part of the North Shore this time around. If you are interested in this info for Northfield, Glenview, or another community on the Shore, let me know and I can pull the numbers for you. The Spring market has been SOOOO busy that I had to cut back on my research a little bit in order to continue to provide my clients with the top notch service they deserve.

I just pulled the data for January 2012...the number of homes that went under contract in January 2012 increased on the North Shore (same communities that I reported on in these recent posts) by over 44% versus 2011!!! So things are looking up.

Wilmette

The number of homes sold in Wilmette declined in 2011 versus 2010 by 1.8%.

Over 90% of the Wilmette home sales in 2011 were traditional sales. Over 5% were bank-owned properties and almost 4% were short sales.

Inventory for single family homes in Wilmette is just under 7 months, which is the closest to a balanced market (experts say that a “normal” or balanced market has 5 – 7 months of inventory) on the North Shore. The inventory for condos and townhomes is over 12 months in Wilmette.

There are 51 homes in pre-foreclosures right now in Wilmette and 22 bank-owned properties for a total of 72 distressed properties. This is a decline in distressed properties from last July when this number was 92. Distressed properties in Wilmette are 0.7% of the total housing units (THU) in Wilmette. Wilmette and Winnetka are tied with the lowest/best percentage of distressed properties as a percent of THU.

The median price of single family homes in Wilmette fell slightly by 1.5% versus 2010. Condo/townhome prices slipped by 8.8% - this is the only community that had a price decline of less than 10%.

The market for single family homes in Wilmette is strong. Sales and prices declined only slightly and the inventory level suggests that it is NOT a buyers’ market anymore - great news! The condo/townhome market is not doing as well, though it is much better than all of the other North Shore communities.

Winnetka

The number of homes sold during 2011 in Winnetka increased by 6.7% versus 2010. For single family homes the increase was 8.2%.

Almost 95% of the 2011 sales were traditional sales. The remainder of the sales was equally divided between short sales and bank-owned properties.

The home inventory in Winnetka is over 9 months for single family homes and almost 16 months for condos/townhomes.

There are 22 homes in pre-foreclosure in Winnetka, according to public records. And are 7 bank-owner properties. This is actually an INCREASE in distressed properties versus last July when there was a total of 20 distressed properties. Winnetka is tied with Wilmette; both communities have the lowest/best number of distressed properties as a percentage of total housing units (THU) of 0.7%.

The median price of a single family home in Winnetka fell by almost 9%. For townhomes and condos the median price fell by over 21%.

The Winnetka market is doing quite well. Sales increase versus last year, and there are very few distressed properties. However, the inventory levels suggest that the number of sellers still exceeds the number of buyers, so it still may be a buyers’ market. Median prices also fell by more than I would expect given the relatively low level of distressed properties. I expect to see the number of sales continue to increase and price stabilization over the next several months in this community.

Thank you for reading! If you’d like to understand how this information affects you and your home buying/selling decisions, contact me directly for a consultation.

February 13, 2012

This is my 7th post in a series about the local real estate market in the individual communities on Chicago's North Shore. (See my recent previous posts for an overview of the North Shore real estate market and information on specific communities and watch for my next two posts which will complete the series.)

Skokie

Skokie had a 10.1% increase in the number of homes sold in 2011 versus 2012. Increases were seen for both single family homes (+9.6%) and condos/townhomes (+10.9%).

Over 47% of the sales in Skokie were distressed properties. Bank-owned properties represented 31.6% of closed sales in 2011 and short sales were 15.5%.

Inventory is below the North Shore average, but still on the high side with over 9 months of single family homes available for sale and over 13 months of condos/townhomes.

The number of distressed properties in Skokie is higher than any of the other North Shore communities. There are 408 homes in pre-foreclosures and 180 bank-owned properties. This represents 2.3% of the total housing units (THU). This is about the same number of distressed properties that I saw in Skokie last July, though the mix has changed. In July 2011 there were 430 properties in pre-foreclosure and 159 bank-owned properties. This suggests that an increasing number of homeowners in Skokie are struggling to pay their mortgage.

As you would expect with a high number of distressed property sales, median prices declined in Skokie. The median price for a single family home declines by 11.1% and by 23.6% for condos/townhomes.

With the high level of distressed properties in Skokie (and this number appears to be increasing) I do not expect to see prices stabilizing during 2012. However, I do expect the number of home sales to continue to increase in 2012.

More to come.

Thank you for reading! If you want to know what is going on in your local market and why, please contact me directly.

February 12, 2012

This is the 6th post in a series about the local real estate market on Chicago's North Shore.

Northbrook

The number of homes sold in Northbrook increased by 3.4% in 2011. Most of the increase was in the townhome/condo market where sales increased by 9.6%. Single family home sales increased by 1 house in 2011 compared to 2010.

Almost 23% of the home sales were distressed properties in 2011. Over 12% were bank-owned properties and over 10% were short sales.

There is 9 months of inventory for single family homes and over 11 months for condos/townhomes. This reflects a buyers’ market, but it is better than the North Shore averages.

Northbrook has 138 homes in pre-foreclosure and 74 bank-owner properties, for a total of 212. These distressed properties represent 1.6% of the total housing units (THU) in Northbrook. This is slightly worse than the North Shore as a whole, which has distressed properties at 1.3% of THU. Last July there was a total of 218 distressed properties in Northbrook, so not a lot of improvement on this statistic.

The median price for a single family home fell by 6.9% in Northbrook, while condos/townhomes saw a decline of 12.8%.

Although Northbrook had an increase in the number of homes sold, this community still has some obstacles to overcome. Similar to Deerfield, once the distressed properties are out of the market, the downward pressure on prices will relax and we will see some stabilization in prices. For at least the first half of 2012 I expect to see continued price declines in Northbrook.

Thank you for reading! If you want to know what is going on in your local market and why, please contact me directly.

February 11, 2012

This is my 5th posting in a series about the suburbs on the North Shore of Chicago. Look at previous posts to see how the North Shore compares to the state of Illinois, the whole Chicago metropolitan area, and the city of Chicago. So far, I've already posted statistics for Deerfield, Evanston, Glencoe and Highland Park.

Kenilworth

The number of homes sold in Kenilworth increased from 33 sales in 2010 to 35 sales in 2011. All of the sales were single family homes.

Two of the 35 sales were shorts sales, and the rest were traditional sales.

There is 12 months of inventory in Kenilworth, which means that it is still a buyers’ market with supply exceeding demand. This is slightly higher than the North Shore average of 11+ months.

There are 6 homes in pre-foreclosure in Kenilworth and one that is bank-owned. This represents 0.9% of the total housing units (TNU) in Kenilworth. There were 9 distressed properties in Kenilworth in July 2011, so this is an improvement.

The median price increased from $1.34 million to $1.6 million.

Kenilworth is a very small (and expensive) area of less than 900 homes. All of the statistics for Kenilworth are based on a much smaller number of homes than the other communities, so it is not really appropriate to make direct comparisons. Even though the median price increased in this community, I think it is too early to say that real estate values have really gone up. All of the other indicators suggest that Kenilworth is not completely out of the woods yet, though things are moving in the right direction. The recent improvement in interest rates on jumbo loans will definitely help this market turn around.

Lake Forest

Lake Forest sales decreased by 9% in 2011 versus 2010. Single family home sales declined by 10 homes from 217 to 207, -4.6%. Condo/townhome sales dropped by 24.2%, from 62 units in 2010 to 47 in 2011.

Almost 90% of the sales in 2011 were traditional sales.

Inventory levels are still rather high, with more than 16 months of inventory for single family homes and 18 months for condos/townhomes. This is much higher than the North Shore average of 11+ months for single family and 13+ months for condos/townhomes.

Tax records show that there are 48 homes in pre-foreclosure and 15 bank-owned properties, for a total of 63 distressed properties. This represents about 0.8% of total housing units (THU) in Lake Forest. Last July there were 69 distressed properties in Lake Forest, according to the tax records.

The median price of a single family home increased in Lake Forest by 3.7%, while the condo/townhome median price dropped by 23.2%.

The statistics for this community are mixed. On the negative side, sales decreased versus year ago and inventory levels are high. On the plus side, not a lot of distressed properties (though the numbers are about the same as 6 months ago) and the median price for single family homes has improved. Overall, I think the turnaround for Lake Forest is slightly behind Highland Park. I expect sales to increase in 2012 with prices declining and then possibly stabilizing toward the end of the year.

More to come.

Thank you for reading! If you want to know what is going on in your local market and why, please contact me directly.